


The Hitman's Daughter

by Dontevenknow_56



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-14 14:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18054584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dontevenknow_56/pseuds/Dontevenknow_56
Summary: Warning: This story depicts attempted rape.Just a little something I had on the back of my mind. Juliana saves Valentina.





	1. Chapter 1

It was around eleven that Valentina agreed to go out with Lucho, Sergio and Nayeli. She didn’t really want to be here, but she also didn’t want to be at home. Today, out of all days since her father’s death, she felt the most vulnerable and she had no idea why. Perhaps the memories were catching up with her… or the sorrow those memories brought.

“Want anything?” Lucho asked, loud above the crowd of drunken people.

Valentina shook her head no, and Lucho threw her an exasperated look before he headed to the bar along with Sergio. Valentina frowned as she followed them with her gaze, but her attention was caught in the scenery. This was not like the clubs she was used to, this one was different. Heavy colored lights bounced all over the place, and people danced as if in a trance. There was also a stage. There were no strip poles per sé, but they weren’t necessary with the way the women were dancing: slow and sensual, trying to catch anyone’s eye in the process.

She felt Nayeli grab her wrist and pull her through the crowd. She bumped people absent-mindedly, not even bothering to apologize over the loud music. They arrived at a small table in one of the corners of the room, evading a few drunks that tried to haul them to the dance floor. Nayeli ordered drinks and attempted to make conversation, but Valentina just wasn’t there. Her mind was at the funeral, her shadow cast over her father’s grave. The bright lights danced around her in slow motion, and the music turned to whitenoise as all her concentration was poured into the memory of her beloved father.

“Valentina, are you listening to me?” Nayeli snapped her fingers across her face.

The taller girl blinked. “Sorry, I just… I’m tired.” And she truly was tired. Tired of pretending she was okay, tired of not being able to talk to any of her friends about it. Coming here was not a good idea.

But then the shots arrived. A round of six, which Nayeli urged her to down with her. Valentina eyed the liquid of the small glass of her choice, and without another thought, threw it in her mouth and swallowed hard. Then another. Then another. They numbed the pain, even if only for a while.

Nayeli cheered and Valentina let out a small smile, the familiar buzz coming to obscure her senses. It was always like this. A few shots first… then a few more. Then a bottle. Then maybe two. Another round of jager bombs arrived, and Valentina picked up a glass on autopilot. She stopped, however, when her eyes met a not-that-faraway woman who stared down at her from the upper floor. Her arms were crossed over the railing, and her weigh rested on them. She had dark hair, perhaps black, that rested just below her shoulders, and she wore jeans and a black leather jacket.

When she noticed Valentina looking back at her, she quickly averted her gaze and made it look like she was simply scanning the room, her attention not focused on anything on particular.

Valentina’s attention turned back to Nayeli, who kept insisting that she downed the shot on her hand. The tall girl didn’t know why, but she raised her eyes again, and found the girl looking down at her again. But this time, the dark haired-beauty didn’t look away. She kept her eyes on Valentina with a look that made her feel like she was warning her not to take the shot. Like if she were telling her with her eyes that Valentina had had enough for the time being.

Much to Nayeli’s dismay, Valentina put the shot down, confused.  

“Vale, what are you doing? Come on! Take the shot!”

Valentina looked up again, but the girl was gone. Why did she feel somewhat ashamed of a stranger seeing her like this? She didn’t even know her. This was not normal. She had never cared about what people she didn’t know thought of her. 

“Nay, I think I’m going to go,” Valentina said quietly after playing with the idea of leaving for a little while. She knew that if she left, her friends would get mad at her. But she needed space, needed to clear her head. And this was not the place to be.

“What?” Nayeli yelled over the crowd, inching closer.

“I’m going to go!” Valentina yelled back, getting up from the tall stool. She stumbled a little in the process, but she knew she could walk perfectly. 

“But we just got here! You can’t do that! Besides, Lucho said to put the drinks on your tab. If you leave…”

The rest of the sentence hung in the air, and Valentina swallowed. Of course the drinks were on her tab. They always were. It didn’t matter that Lucho or Sergio could pay for them. She was the wealthiest, no one in her family was going to miss any money she spent in a club… or so her friends had told her.

The music changed to an annoying, blasting rhythm and Valentina had had enough. She dug through her small purse and handed her friend the platinum plastic.

“Don’t lose it,” Valentina warned.

Nayeli squealed and took Valentina’s credit card and held it to her chest, ushering words of gratitude. But Valentina didn’t listen. She headed towards the club’s exit, slowly pushing her way out. She felt a hand grab her butt, and she shoved whoever’s hand it was away, not looking back. She wanted out. She _needed_ out.

“Hey, where are you going?!” yelled Lucho when he stood in front of her, drinks on his hands.

“Home,” Valentina argued and tried to hurry past him, but he blocked her way.

“What do you mean home? We just got here!” Lucho said, annoyed.

“I’ll ask Alirio to pick me up,” Valentina yelled back.

Lucho rolled his eyes. “Why is it always the same with you? Why can’t you stick to the plans we make?” he accused, the alcohol slushing out of the glasses he was holding.

“I don’t feel well,” Valentina said meekly. Sergio arrived at Lucho’s side, unaware of their discussion.

“You never feel well, Valentina! I’m tired of it!”

“How do you expect me to feel?! My father just died!” Valentina spat.

“Your father died a month ago! It’s time you move on!”

Valentina slapped Lucho across the face, hard. He stumbled back and bumped into Sergio, who spilled his drinks on the person that happened to walk by next to him.

Lucho turned to look at Valentina with fire in his eyes. She took a step back.

“You want to go? Fine. Fucking go! Stop ruining people’s fun like you always do!” he bellowed before he pushed Sergio out of the way and headed to Nayeli’s table. Sergio stayed behind, apologizing to the person whose shirt he had ruined.

Valentina ground her teeth and walked away. A few tears escaped her eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. How could her so-called boyfriend be so insensitive towards her? Did he even care about her? Apparently not, judging by the scene he had just caused. She looked down at her palm which still tingled a bit after the slap. She made a fist of it and hurried out of the club so she could call Alirio to come pick her up.

The noise died down once she was outside and her ears rang. The cold hit her bare arms and she shivered, and noticed how a puff of her breath clouded her vision for a second. She pulled out her phone from her small purse: 12:15 p.m. It wasn’t that late. As a matter of fact, it was not late at all for a Friday night.

Her stiff thumbs dialed her driver’s number and she instructed him to pick her up at this location. Once she hung up, her senses focused on what surrounded her. A Chinese food joint was closing, and the apartment buildings that framed the small street had a few light on. A few people chattered as the passed by her to enter the club.

A whistle caught her attention absent-mindedly. A couple of men sat on the corner of the sidewalk and eyed her in a way that… made her feel unsafe. She crossed her arms and waited patiently for Alirio to arrive, but she became uneasy when the catcalls grew louder. She frowned to herself and debated on heading back inside, but she stopped when she remembered she gave her credit card to Nayeli. She had no money to access the place.

Valentina began to walk away when the men got up and headed to where she stood. She didn’t want to cause a scene by getting too alarmed. She could just easily wait the driver out on an open store around the corner or something.

But when she turned around the corner, she was met with a dead-end alley. Her breathing hastened as she continued walking, her senses blurred by the alcohol in her system and by the insisting voice in her head that implored her to run. But she didn’t run. I mean, those men could easily be heading someplace else, right? She sighed to herself when she found a backdoor to the club. She pushed open, but the door didn’t budge. She pushed again harder to no avail.

“Hey, pretty lady,” a low voice said from behind her.

Valentina turned around so fast that if the man were any closer, she could’ve whipped his face with her hair. She stood still, eyes wide, when she realized the two men stood a few feet away from her. They looked at her with smiles on their faces, and a shiver ran down Valentina’s back.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing here all alone?” asked the other one innocently.

“I’m waiting for my boyfriend. He’ll be out in any second,” she lied easily. Her voice trembled though, and both men smiled. Cold sweat gathered on her lower back.

“Well, I don’t see him now. Why don’t we, all three of us,” he said as he took a step forward, “have a little fun while we wait for him?”

Valentina shook her head no and took a step back. She opened her mouth to scream, but one of them drew out a knife.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he said, chastising her. “Don’t you even dare try.”

Valentina looked everywhere desperately. There was no way out. There was no one there. Was this it? Was this how she… No. She would fight. She’d try to.

“I have money,” she tried, tears obscuring her sight.

“We don’t want your money,” said one of them and both started walking towards her. Valentina took long strides back, not daring to turn away from her attackers.

“Please, I, I swear I won’t tell, please let me leave,” she began to raise her voice as the men neared her position. Her legs trembled uncontrollably and blood rushed to her face as one of them began to unbuckle his belt. But she couldn’t move. She was paralyzed by fear. Everything unfolded in slow motion. Her mind was elsewhere, but her body was here. She was unaware that she was beginning to dissociate.

She yelped when the shorter man grabbed her by the hair and pushed her against the wall. The cold brick scraping against her face spurred her into action and she elbowed him, hard, on the stomach. The man wheezed and grabbed her by the hair and banged her head against the wall. She felt a sharp pain above her eyebrow, but ignored it as she began to scream and cry for help, struggling with the man that pinned her. She cried harder when she felt the second man draw her legs wider.

“Hey!” a low voice yelled from across the alley.

Footsteps grew louder as the owner of the voice, the female voice, walked closer to them. Valentina turned her head, smearing blood against the wall from the cut above her eyebrow and cried when she instantly recognized the dark-haired woman, who stood a few feet away. The girl’s eyes were not focused on her but on the two men, who stopped what they were doing and only held Valentina in place, clearly baffled.

“Let her go,” she said with a stern tone.

Both men laughed. but ignored her and continued to attempt to undress Valentina, saying how they loved a crowd watching. The taller man held the knife against Valentina’s throat and cut a strap of her sleeveless shirt.

“I said. Let. Her. Fucking. Go.” The stranger said through gritted teeth as she took a step closer. Her fists were clenched at her sides and she breathed hard. She was furious.

Both men looked at each other, now annoyed, and one told the other to seize her. They argued for a few seconds who got to keep Valentina, and the taller one, reluctantly, let go of the taller girl to grab the other one. He stopped in his tracks, though, when he stood closer to where she stood. Valentina noticed between her attempted shoves and screams that his attacker, who had seemed dangerous and intimidating a few seconds ago, now looked like a scared little man facing a great terror.

“Yo,” he motioned to the other, who began licking Valentina’s neck disgustingly while she cried and struggled against him. “Let her go,” he let out with a gulp.

“What?” yelled the other, incredulous.

“Let her go, man.”

“Now, why the fuck would I-”

“I-It’s Chino’s daughter.”

The man holding Valentina backed away instantly and Valentina slipped to the ground. She kept crying, her eyes cast down, as the man who had abused her physically issued apologies and begged forgiveness.

“Don’t come here again. Or he’ll know,” the dark-haired girl growled dangerously. Both nodded and began to walk away. Once they passed her, the girl added: “He won’t like what you did tonight. I’d leave before dawn.”

Valentina heard them sprint to a run and until the noise became inexistent. Her eyes were still cast down. She didn’t dare look up. She was in shock, and disgusted with herself. How could she let things go so far? Was this her fault? The tears ran free as she hugged herself. She almost got raped. She almost got raped. She almost got raped.

“Hey,” a small voice, not at all like the one that had confronted the two men, broke her train of thought. She heard rather than saw the woman kneel beside her. Valentina’s breathed got ragged again as she felt the girl’s eyes on her.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she asked tenderly.

Valentina looked up, not expecting that tone from the hard-looking woman. She blinked a few times, perplexed by having her so close. She had brown eyes that looked at her with a certain sadness. Her eyebrows were pulled together in concern. Her nose was elegant, and her cheekbones framed her beautiful face. Her lips were thin, which complimented her structure. Her hair was parted in the middle and shined with the moonlight. Valentina’s attention went back to her eyes. They still held a questioning look. Valentina tried to speak, but words failed her. Her eyes filled to the brim with tears again and she cried. She cried hard.

“Hey, hey, shhh, it’s okay, you’re safe,” the other woman whispered. Her voice calmed Valentina and reassured her that she was not in danger anymore. She felt an unsure hand rest on her shoulder, and Valentina clung to the other girl. The stranger stayed still for a few seconds before she held her against her chest in a secure embrace.

“You’re okay. They won’t come back here, you’re okay,” she guaranteed.

They stayed like that for a while, Valentina allowing the girl to shield her from the cold and from the world. She felt a few strokes on her hair that instead of freaking her out, calmed her and slowed the flow of her tears. She felt safe with this girl. More safe than with anyone in a while. And that confused her beyond relief.  

When Valentina’s breathing calmed, the girl drew back, but kept Valentina at arms’ length. Both kept a straight face, trying to figure the other out. “Let me see your eye,” the girl whispered. She held Valentina’s face in her hands and tilted it towards her so she could see the wound better. “It’s an ugly scrape, but it won’t need stitches,” she assessed. She carefully ran the tip of her finger over the still bleeding cut, catching a drop of the red liquid.

Valentina’s mind was still reeling from all that had happened. She felt an urge to vomit, but she pushed it down, swallowing hard as the dark orbs that beheld her grew darker. She felt the cold hit her face again when the hands on her face disappeared.

“I’m sorry for asking this now, but what the hell were you doing out here alone?”

The question hit her like a punch to the gut. She had been so stupid. So reckless. And with the way the stranger was looking at her, out of the sudden she felt insecure.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… I… I’m sorry” Valentina apologized to her, which made the girl frown.

“Hey, It’s not your fault what they did, okay? Don’t ever apologize for that.”

Valentina nodded to herself, swallowing hard, not quite registering the words.

“Can you stand?” the girl asked, tilting her head, curious.

“I think so.”

“Let’s figure it out.”

She helped steady Valentina by the elbows and let her rest her weigh on her side for a second. Once Valentina stabilized her feet, she shivered against the cold. Her tattered blouse hanged loosely from her shoulder from all the pulling, exposing her to the night. The stranger seemed to notice this and shed off her jacket, placing it around Valentina’s shoulders carefully. Valentina looked at her and noticed she seemed fine against the cold in her plain grey shirt. Like if she were used to it.

“We should call a doctor or something.”

“No,” Valentina said quickly. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay. You’re bleeding.”

“My driver is coming to pick me up in any-” Valentina grew quiet when she noticed she didn’t have her phone with her. She searched on her pockets and on the ground, but found nothing.

“They took my phone,” Valentina concluded.

The other girl rolled her eyes. “Assholes. I swear, when I tell Chino…”

“Who’s El Chino?” Valentina asked, confused.

The girl looked at her with a look Valentina couldn’t quite read.

“El Chino is my father.”

Valentina waited a few seconds, like if that would give her a revelation. When none came, she asked again. “And why were those men so scared of your father?”

“Because he’s a hitman,” she said simply.

Valentina’s eyes grew wide and she stumbled back. The stranger reached out to steady her, but drew her hands back when Valentina looked at her, scared.

“Your father is a hitman?”

She nodded solemnly and darted her eyes away, and Valentina could tell she was used to these kinds of reactions. She seemed unfazed, as if she had expected Valentina to freak out on her.

“But… that doesn’t make any sense. What is the daughter of a hitman saving random girls at night?” Valentina asked, baffled.

The girl whipped her head fast towards her. She looked at Valentina dead in the eye before replying: “I’m not my father. I just happen to be his daughter.”

She started to walk away, upset, but Valentina didn’t want to let her go just yet. She did the first thing she could think of and grabbed her wrist, pulling her slightly towards her. A new found electricity coursed through them. Valentina was buzzing. She wanted to know more about this girl. This stranger who had saved her. This stranger who had looked at her throughout her time at the club. She wanted to thank her.

“I… thank you,” Valentina said, releasing her grip. “Really. If you hadn’t arrived I…”

“There’s nothing to thank.”

“Of course there is,” Valentina insisted. “You saved my life.”

Valentina could’ve sworn she saw the other girl blush slightly, but opted on not pointing it out. She was about to say something else when she heard her name being called. She looked past the girl and saw Alirio, Fabrizio and a few other bodyguards, jogging towards her. Once the girl saw them, she panicked and attempted to run. But Valentina grasped her arm yet again.

“What?” the stranger said, as she tried to free herself from the other girl’s grasp.

“Your name. Please tell me your name,” she begged.

“Juliana.” With that, Valentina let her run away and watched her disappear into the night.

_“Juliana,”_ Valentina said to herself.

“Miss Valentina, are you okay? We’ve been looking for you,” said Alirio, worried, once he got to her. But Valentina didn’t even look at him. Her eyes were glued to where Juliana once stood, her hand grasping the leather that covered her shoulders.

Would she ever see her again?


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since the incident at the alley and Juliana’s thoughts still revolved around the girl. The girl that had caught her eye the moment she had set foot inside the club, because it was evident that she did not frequented those kinds of places. She looked, and walked, and carried herself around with a hint of poise that was masked behind a slightly drunken demeanor and the vibrancy of a party girl.

Juliana closed her eyes as the memory of seeing said girl crumpled in the ground crossed her mind. Anger still boiled in her veins when her thoughts traveled to the pigs that had touched her. She shouldn’t have warned them to flee. She should’ve just contacted her father and lie about them molesting her, the daughter of one of Mexico’s greatest hitmen, so they got what they deserved.

Nevertheless, what was done, was done.

Juliana got up from the bed she shared with her mother and got ready for the day. Even though she was El Chino’s daughter, she didn’t actually have a relationship with him. She knew how to contact him, sure. But it was for emergencies only, and by emergencies she meant not having any other resource she could count on.

But people didn’t know that. They knew what Juliana wanted them to know, that she and her hitman father were close and well aware of each other’s businesses. They didn’t need to know that her father had practically abandoned her and her mother when they were little and they both had managed to fend off for themselves.

“Juli, you’re going to be late!” her mom, Lupita, yelled.

Juliana sighed. She dragged her feet to the kitchen and sat across her mother, who passed her a glass of orange juice, her eyes still on the morning paper.

“Where were you last night? The club, again?” her mom asked.

“Yup,” she let out a pop and reached for a piece of toast with jam from the center plate.

“I still don’t get why you enjoy that place. It’s full of bad people. Dangerous people.”

“You know I like watching people. They inspire me,” Juliana said, justifying her choice of a Sunday night activity.

“I know, but at a club? Why not watch people at the street? Or the park? You could watch them while you work,” her mom said with a raised eyebrow as she pushed the stack of lottery tickets Juliana was supposed to sell that day across the table.

“Because it’s different,” she argued, chewing on a piece of toast. “Watching them being so carefree is intriguing to me… How people pay to come to a place so they can let themselves be. Where they can unravel and drink and dance and feel better about themselves.”

Lupita eyed her daughter for a moment before she sighed and went back to the newspaper. “Well, mija, just be careful, okay? I heard the other day that a girl was assaulted near that place. And it wasn’t just any girl. It was the daughter of a very important man.”

Juliana took a sip of her orange juice.

Juliana stayed silent for a little while. “What man?”

“León Carvajal. He was the owner of Grupo Carvajal,” her mom said shaking the printed pages, indicating that the company was behind the elaboration of the newspaper.

“You said ‘was’,” Juliana frowned.

“He died about a month ago, I think. Don’t you remember? It was on the news. He was killed on his own wedding; it was gruesome.”

Juliana pondered the information. She surely would’ve remembered the news of a man being killed on his wedding day. She felt a little something upset her stomach. That poor girl had lost her father a month ago and now had been assaulted. She couldn’t imagine the distress she must be in right now.

“Poor girl,” she said more to herself, but her mom let out a sad smile.

“That’s why you need to be careful. I’d hate if anything like that happened to you.”

Juliana shook her head. “I stay around people. I don’t frequent alleys.”

And she truly didn’t. She knew being her father’s daughter gave her credit on the streets, but she also knew not to push it. Playing the ‘hitman father’ card too much was not a smart move.

Lupita let out a small sigh. She knew her daughter was mature enough to not meddle with dangerous people. But still, she was only eighteen. She worried about her. The more she was busy working, the more she would center herself… or so she thought.

“Anyway. You should get going. It’s late as it is already,” Lupita ushered her to the front door. “Try and sell all of them and we can go out and eat something nice for once for dinner.”

Juliana smiled at the prospect and left after she said goodbye to her mother.

* * *

Once she got to the park, she sighed. There were not too many people… and it was hot. So hot, she already felt a few drips of sweat run down her back. Nevertheless, she didn’t want to disappoint her mom, so she set out to work.

An hour had passed and she hadn’t managed to sell a single ticket. She hated days like these, when people walked briskly to avoid being scalded by the sun. It made them irritable… angry even. When Juliana tried to go near them, they scowled. And who could blame them? This day was not a day to be spent outside unless there was a body of water near one could submerge into.

“Lotería!” she yelled for the thousandth time.

“Señorita…”

A whisper to the side of her neck brought her to a jolt and she instinctively turned around and grabbed the arm of the person who surprised her. Her grip was firm on a thin arm as she looked up, wide-eyed, at the owner of the voice.

Her mouth opened and closed as she was meet by a familiar, piercing blue. It was her. The girl from the club. She was here. How was she here? Had she been following her? No, she couldn’t possibly. Could she? It was too much coincidence. Why was she here? What did she want?-

“Um, can I have my arm back?” the girl said, a tad nervous.

Juliana blinked a few times, flushed a deep red and released her. She cursed herself as she imagined what her face must have looked like.

“Sorry, I…” she began, as she fumbled with her words. “You’re…”

“Valentina, the girl you saved the other day,” she said casually, as if she had told her favorite color.

“Right.”

Valentina gave her a lopsided smile and Juliana was instantly reminded of a puppy. Wait, what?

“What are you doing here?” Juliana asked, her eyebrows furrowed. “Have you been following me?”

“What? No! Of course, not. I was driving by… well, my driver was taking me somewhere and I saw you. I had to stop and say hi.”

“Right,” she said again, which made Valentina smile. She had a pretty smile, or so she had noticed now. She hadn’t seen her smile that day at the club, for obvious reasons.

“So… how are you?” Juliana opted on asking after a few seconds. She genuinely was curious about how the girl had been holding up, especially with the new found information her mother had provided that morning.

Valentina’s smile faltered for a moment, but then it found its way to her lips again.

“Better,” she said quietly.

Juliana nodded, understanding that it was a sore subject. They stayed like that for a while, and Juliana could feel sweat gathering on her lower back. She couldn’t keep standing there. She needed to get work done.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I guess I’ll be seeing-”

“Do you want to go grab a coffee?”

Juliana blinked twice. Valentina looked eagerly at her, her eyes shining with hope.

“What?” Juliana managed choke out.

“Coffee. You know, brown? Hot? Well, in this case it would be better iced…”

Juliana rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but let out a small smile. “I mean why do you want to grab a coffee with me. You don’t even know me.”

“Exactly,” Valentina said walking a step towards her. Juliana took a step back. “I want to get to know you.”

“Why?” Juliana asked, confused.

Valentina sighed. “Are you always this difficult? It’s just coffee. And are you seriously asking me why? If it was the other way around, where I came and saved you, wouldn’t you like to know more about me?”

Juliana looked at the ground for a moment. The girl was right; it was a reasonable invitation. Still, she didn’t know why the whole ordeal was weird for her. She hadn’t had a coffee with someone other than her mother for years. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she was a very reserved person. She enjoyed her solitude… most of the time.

“Please,” Valentina implored, but Juliana shook her head.

“I have to work,” she said, raising the tickets as an explanation. Valentina’s gaze dropped to them, and Juliana could’ve sworn she saw a hint of disappointment. It only lasted for a few seconds though, because Valentina eagerly offered to help out selling them.

Juliana chuckled. “You’re going to help me sell lottery tickets,” she said incredulously.

“Why not? Besides, I’m a very convincing person,” she said proudly. “See? I’m already convincing you.”

Juliana was about to argue, when two men, friends apparently, walked by and laughed loudly at a joke one said to the other. She took a moment to register it in her mind, but Valentina flinched visibly at the loud interaction. Her eyes darted everywhere, as if looking for a source of danger and she tensed, her arms coming to hug her own frame. Her reaction pulled at Juliana’s heartstrings.

“Hey,” she called to get her attention back to her, and offered Valentina a small smile. “Okay, I’ll grab a coffee with you,” she said, trying to ease her nerves. “But only if you help me sell these tickets,” she bargained a tad playfully. She smiled internally when she noticed her answer made Valentina smiled, and she didn’t know why, but she felt like congratulating herself. As if she had achieved a grand goal.

“Yes, I promise!” Valentina let out excitedly. “I know just the place we can go. Let me just tell my driver. We can walk there.”

She left before Juliana could answer, and the dark-haired girl smiled to herself. She observed as Valentina chatted with her driver and couldn’t help but digest what just had happened. She felt… sorry for the girl? No. Not sorry. She felt a strange need to… to protect her somehow. And why wouldn’t she? No one should have to go through that. Especially not a girl as… full of life as her.

Juliana was broken out of her thoughts when she had the blue-eyed girl in front of her again.

“So. Shall we?” Valentina asked, mocking a chivalrous tone.

Juliana let out an inevitable chuckle. “Lead the way.”


End file.
